ULM eliminated from title hunt by Georgia State

The University of Louisiana at Monroe’s DeMondre Harvey goes up for a layup in front of Georgia State defenders R.J. Hunter (22) and Markus Krider (33) on Thursday in ULM's Fant-Ewing Coliseum.(Photo: Emerald Harris/ULM Photo Services)

Georgia State came into Fant-Ewing Coliseum leading the Sun Belt in field goal percentage, while ULM sported the league's top field goal defense.

Just like the last meeting in December, it belonged to Georgia State. Unlike last time though, there was a conference title at stake for both teams.

The Panthers (21-9, 14-5) came from 10 down to beat the Warhawks (19-11, 13-6) 58-50 and move within one win of the Sun Belt regular season championship.

After a strong offensive start, ULM struggled to knock down shots and finish drives to the rim in the second half against Georgia State's matchup zone.

"Against that matchup zone you've got to have one or two things. You've got to have big time three-point shooting or you've got to have some drivers or some slash low post players to get to the rim," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of guys that can drive it very well and the ones that we do have seemed to struggle in the second half getting it in there." Georgia State's Ryan Harrow lived up to his billing as the Sun Belt's top scorer, dropping 30 points on ULM.

Georgia State's Ryan Harrow lived up to his billing as the Sun Belt's top scorer, dropping 31 points on ULM.

The Panthers fired on all cylinders out of the gate, quickly jumping out to a 13-0 behind triplets Harrow, R.J. Hunter and Markus Crider.

For one half at least, it looked like ULM left any scoring issues at Appalachian State as Nick Coppola 3 ignited a 14-0 Warhawk run. Majok Deng's layup off a picture perfect pass from Tylor Ongwae pulled ULM within one with eight minutes to go in the first half.

Richard called timeout during the 10-0 Georgia State run and adjusted ULM's defense from a switching man-to-man into a zone. The adjustment paid off for the Warhawks, who held the Panthers to 38 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from three in the first half— well below their season average.

"We got in the zone and they missed a few shots and I think it helped us settle down," Richard said. We got some buckets off transition and did an excellent job getting back in it."

After Ongwae's 1-for-2 trip to the free throw line made the score 27-26, Deng's layup at the buzzer sent ULM into the break with a 29-26 halftime lead.

Once Georgia State began to heat up from the floor in the second half, ULM's offensive woes returned. The Warhawks shot just 20 percent in the second half and went 0-10 from the 3-point line.

The Panthers put together a 19-4 run by the 7:24-mark of the second half to retake the lead.

Harrow scored 11 of those 19 points by himself and Hunter hit one of his two 3's. ULM held Hunter below his scoring average with nine points, but led Georgia State with nine assists.

DeMondre Harvey led the Warhawks in scoring with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Coppola and Roberson also scored in double figures with 11. Ongwae had eight points, six rebounds and four assists for ULM.

With a top-four seed in the Sun Belt conference tournament secured, ULM closes out the regular season on Saturday against Texas State at 4 p.m.

Georgia State and Georgia Southern will go at it for the Sun Belt regular season championship on Saturday.